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In the 1950s, Terry develops the
multivalve turbine, initially designed for shipboard use.
In 1956, Dresser Clark equipped a separate
plant, its Turbo Products Division, for the purpose of producing centrifugal types of
compressors and a new line of gas turbines for general application as prime movers.
In 1957, Dresser Clark introduced the first
1,000 rpm, direct connected separable gas compressor driven by gas field engines.
I-R followed shortly thereafter with the 5” HHE compressors. Dresser Clark
packaged units “in house” direct or through subsidiaries.
 1960s: Worthington builds the first hot
gas expander to operate with gas at 1250 degrees Fahrenheit. To handle this extreme
temperature, the radial nozzle and the double flow opposed designs were developed.
Worthington also developed a special design for handling the large volume of exhaust gas
from an aircraft jet engine at low pressure and high temperature. This opened up an
entirely new market for Worthington, providing jet engine generating units for standby and
peaking requirements of electric utilities.
The initial installation in Holyoke, MA, was in
service just four months when the famous North East blackout occurred in 1965. While power
was off from Maine to New Jersey and Niagara Falls to Boston, the residents of Holyoke
were not affected. The performance that night of the 12,000 KW Worthington jet gas turbine
generator resulted in many additional orders from other small utility companies.
Delivering rated power in less than ten minutes
after start-up was extremely attractive to large utility systems and contributed to many
additional orders.
During the decade, Ingersoll-Rand pioneered
“power recovery technology” to improve the efficiency of crude oil by turning
excess pressure and temperature into power, using compressors, turbines and generators,
for mechanical or electrical energy for other refinery needs.
In Norway, to make up for depletion of the
silver mines after silver was discovered in 1623, the decision was made to build a weapon
factory in Kongsberg and in 1814 "Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk"(KV) was founded. In
the early 1960s KV started to develop a small radial gas turbine in the 1,200KW range. In
1968 the first KG2 gas turbine was delivered as emergency power to the National Power
System. Since then, more than 1,000 of the successful KG2 gas turbine units have been sold
to more than 60 countries.
In 1961, Ingersoll-Rand Drilling Services was
formed renting trailer mounted 5” HHE compressors with operations and maintenance for
air drilling and process air applications.
In 1962, Southwest Industries, Inc., Houston,
became another packager of I-R integral and separable gas compressors.
In 1963, I-R purchased Southwest Industries,
Inc. and became a direct packager of I-R compressors, although Beaird and Wilson continued
to package as well. Both I-R and Dresser Clark introduced larger rod load/hp models
of direct connected separable compressors.
In 1964, Ingersoll-Rand reached a manufacturing
agreement with George Clark and N.E.M. Ltd. In Newcastle, U.K., to manufacture large
reciprocating process compressors.
In the mid-60s the nuclear industry was
burgeoning and Terry product development again put the company into ground floor position.
The need was for an extremely rapid starting turbine that would drive large reactor core
cooling pumps. The Terry solution was built around the Terry solid wheel. Measured in
terms of starting time and load pickup capability, the CCS turbine was able to go from a
dead-cold start to over 5,000 horsepower in under 20 seconds.
In 1966, Dresser Industries formed a joint
manufacturing venture, Dresser Dujardin, Societe Vallourec, to build Clark compressors in
Le Havre, France. Dresser acquired full ownership of the venture in 1971. Clark steam
engines, reciprocating engines, centrifugal compressors and pumps, as well as equipment
for mining and drilling were produced at this facility.
In 1967, Worthington merged with Studebaker,
leading to the creation of Worthington Turbine International Division of
Studebaker-Worthington. After the merger, the Steam Turbine Division continued to
manufacture steam turbines and jet gas peaking units. Products ranged from small
single-stage turbines to custom-built, single-casing multi-flow turbines rated at 50,000
horsepower and steam turbine generators to 20,000 KW.
In 1968, Terry purchased Whiton Machine Company
of New London, CT. Whiton's strong Navy and Maritime market helped expand Terry's
shipboard product line.
In 1968 both Dresser Clark and I-R built Texas
facilities to package integral gas engine compressors for the offshore oil industry.
Unfortunately the “boom” was past its peak, and both facilities were later
closed. Separable compressors and gas turbine centrifugal compressors became the compessor
equipment of choice for offshore.
In 1969 I-R Drilling Services, now renamed I-R
Compression Services, entered the gas compressor rental business in addition to air
compressor rentals.
 In 1970, Turbodyne Corporation was formed by
combining Electric Machinery Manufacturing Company and Worthington Turbine International,
both Studebaker Worthington subsidiaries. Headquarters were in Minneapolis.
In the same year, Terry acquired Holwarth
Gasturbinen and Kuhnert Turbinen in Oberhausen, West Germany.
1970 also saw Ingersoll-Rand and Clark develop
adaptions of aircraft jet engines for industrial applications, such as to drive
compressors. In addition, I-R introduced the model RDS compressor with even higher
horsepower and rod load capability. Dresser Clark began to exit the separable gas
compressor market.
 
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